Electric railway-switch



.(No Modl.)

Cl FITCH. ELECTRIC RAILWAY SWITCHy No. 516,731. Patented Mar.' 20, 18921;.

ATTORNEX.

THE NA'rloNAL LlTHoNAPl-IINQ COMPANY. e

Nrrnn STATES PATENT linten.,y

vCHARLES M. FITCH, OF SOUTH NORWALK, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO-THE "A FITCH EXCELSIOR SWITCH COMPANY, OF NEW JERSEY.

ELECTRIC RAI LWAY-SWITCH.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 516,731, dated March 20, 1894.

Application led. June 17,1893- Serial No. 477,899. (No model.)

To aZZ whom, t may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES M. FITCH, a citizen of the United States, residing at South Norwalk, in the county of Fairfield and State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Electric Railway- Switches, of which the following is a full, clear', and exact description.

My invention relates to mechanism for au- 1o tomatically throwing the switch point of a railway track upon the approach of a car or train. I

The invention is a modification of the apparatus shown in my Patent No. 493,991,

dated March 21, 1893, consistingin substituting an electro-magnet to operate the switch in place of the mechanical device and arrangement described in said patent.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 2o represents a plan of a roadway equipped with my improved apparatus. Fig. 2 is a transverse section of the main shaft taken through the ratchet wheel case. Fig. 3 is a section of sleeve surrounding the operating shaft showz 5 ing the operating camsin elevation; and Fig. 4 is a transverse section of the main shaft showing the armature and ratchet case in elevation.

Referring to the drawings by letter, A rep- 3o resents the two rails of a track in one of which there is a pivoted switch point a.. The tip of this point is provided'withadownwardly projecting pin working in a transverse slot a and passing through the track on the under side of which it is pivotally connected with 'the end of a leverb which is pivoted to swing in a horizontal plane upon an axis b. The opposite end of said lever is provided with a slot which embraces a pin c txed in a sleeve c. d represents a shaft mounted in a suitable box or casing buried in the roadway. The shaft carries loosely upon it two cams d', d2 which face each other and form a zigzag annular groove d3; into this groove a pin d4 rigidly connected with the shaft extends. The cams are surrounded by the sleeve c before referred to and are connected therewith by screws or in any other manner. One end of the shaft d projects through a stuffing box e 5o into a tight chamber e. A ratchet wheel fis tightly fitted on the shaft and is housed in by -speci-ive poles of an electro-magnet F. The

plates constitute the armatures for this magnet and their inclination is for the purpose of imparting a long rotary movement to the armatures when they areoperated upon by the magnet. The electro-magnet may be energized by current taken from the main conductors, if the railway is operated by electricity, or it may be energized bya galvanic loattery located at a convenient point in the road- 7o way, the circuit of which is closed by the moving vehicle. I have, however, shown electric connections for energizing the magnet by cur rent after it has passed through the electric motor propelling the Vehicle. The rails through which the return current passes to the generator have a short insulated section a3 just preceding the switch point. This section is bridged by aconductor g which carries the current at all times when the car is 8o not onv the insulated section. The insulated section is connected with a wire h passing around the electro-magnet Fand thence to the continuous rail A, by Wires h' and g.

The operation is as follows: When a car whose return current passes through the rail reaches and passes on to the insulated section as, the current iiows over wire h and through the electro-magnet F energizing it and causing it to swing the armatures f4 9o through an arc of about sixty degrees. The armatures carry the ratchet case with them and the bolt engaging with the ratchet wheel causesv the shaft to rotate. This rotation of the shaft carries the pin thereon against one of the inclined sides of the zigzag groove between the cams and causes the cams and the surrounding sleeve to move in a longitudinal direction upon the shaft. This movement is rail, the magnet becomes de-energized and the counterbalances f5 return the armatures to their normal position. The next car approach* ing will ordinarily th row the switch in the opposite direction because the groove in the cam next presented to the pin is reversed, but if it is not desired that the switch shall be thrown, the current may be cnt 0E momentarily while the car is passing over the insulated section of rail, by inertia.

If desired, the car may carry a mechanical device which shall strike and operate an electric switch to close the battery circuit including the magnet.

Having thus described my invention, I claiml. In a switch operating mechanism,a mov- `able switch point connected to a reciprocating sleeve, said sleeve having cam portions making contact with an outwardly projecting ,pin carried by a shaft, and electro-magnetic `means for actuating said shaft, substantially as described.

tary shaft d carrying the ratchet wheel f, the

magnet armatures f4 loosely mounted upon said shaft and carrying a bolt adapted to engagewith said ratchet wheel, and an electromagnet acting upon the armatures to rotate the shaft in one direction, in the manner and for the purpose set forth.

In testimony whereof I subscribe my signature in presence of two witnesses.

`CHARLES M. FITCH.

Witnesses:

FRANKS. OBER, WM. A. RosENBAUM. 

